Schutt near deal with Guardian Caps for soft shelled youth football helmets

How far down is participation in youth football since all this CTE information has come to light? A lot. "That concern has helped produce a 2.6 percent decline in the number of high schoolers playing football from 2008-09 through 2014-15, according to the latest stats."

"At the youth level, participation in Pop Warner football fell 9.5 percent between 2010 and 2012," according to reports.

Schutt & Guardian Caps are hoping that leads to a relationship and an uptick in declining sales as they come together to produce the soft shelled youth football helmets that Clemson has been using in practices. "Guardian claims the coverings can reduce the force of impact upon collision. (Several college teams — including Clemson, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Syracuse — already use the $59.95 caps in practice)."

The lack of scientific research showing their effectiveness at limiting concussions is keeping them out of practice, an NFL spokesperson said.

That didn’t stop Buffalo Bills Coach Rex Ryan last year from asking for permission to use them during training camp, sources said.
Ryan’s son, Seth, plays football at Clemson and wears them during practice.

The San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts have inquired about the padded caps in the past two years, Guardian’s Hanson said.

The NFL is funding the development of a $1,500 soft shell helmet through startup Vicis.

Wouldn't soft helmet on helmet contact cause one's neck to pull back?

Interestingly, Guardian Caps wrote this 2 years ago as a YouTube comment under the video above.

The Guardian Cap does not prevent or reduce concussions. We do not want to give customers false hope or mislead them through false claims. The Guardian reduces the impact of hits up to 33%. *No helmet, practice apparatus, or helmet pad can prevent or eliminate the risk of concussions or other serious head injuries while playing sports. Researchers have not reached an agreement on how the results of impact absorption tests relate to concussions. No conclusions about a reduction of risk or severity of concussive injury should be drawn from impact absorption tests.﻿